The field of the invention relates generally to displaying information, and more particularly to a method and system for use in displaying three dimensions of data on a plot having two spatial dimensions.
In a facility in which resources are received, processed, and converted by machines into electricity or another product, it is often beneficial to monitor the status of the machines to determine whether they are operating normally. To facilitate such monitoring in at least some facilities, sensors are positioned adjacent to such machines to measure one or more parameters or characteristics, such as vibrations, temperatures, pressures, proximities, positions, voltages or currents associated with the machines. In some environments with multiple machines and multiple sensors, information collected by the sensors is transmitted to a central computer for evaluation by the computer and/or a user of the computer. Additionally, the information may be stored in a database and reviewed on an as-needed basis.
Data stored as described above may relate to a particular type of measurement for a particular machine over a specified time period. The data may be presented to a user in a waterfall plot, wherein a third spatial dimension (the Z-axis) represents time. Waterfall plots and other plots having three dimensions, must be projected onto a two dimensional plane for viewing on a screen or printout by a user. However, projecting data as such can obscure fluctuations and fine details in data sets represented in such plots. Accordingly, a user reviewing sensor measurements in such a plot may have difficulty perceiving fine details in the collected sensor measurements.